Sunday, October 1, 2017

The Marathon Ends: Pirates Take Finale By 11-8 Count

Quite the Bucco jump out of the gates against Gio Gonzalez. A leadoff single, followed two outs later by a couple of walks, a HBP (on the foot) for a RBI, a bases-clearing double by Mad Max and a Jacob Stallings knock made it 5-0 for Steven Brault before he pushed off the slab. Then again, maybe it's one of those days as the Nats started with a two-bagger and walk, a double steal and an Anthony Rendon homer. Then Brault struck out the side. In the second, the Bucs got a couple of runners on but a J-Bell GIDP ended the frame; the Nats for their part left the bases loaded. The Pirates went quietly in the third, but not so Washington, which had the first four runners reach to cut the lead to one. Then Angel Sanchez was waved in and shut the door in a nice bit of work. The fourth went by without a run.

Mad Max had a good couple of days in DC (photo Joe Guzy/Pirates)

In the fifth, a Cutch double (S-Rod ran for him; apparently Andrew's sore foot ached) followed by J-Bell & Freeser knocks plated a run before another DP, this one served by Joe Blanton v J-Lup, ended the frame. Johnny Barbato took the ball and walked a pair after an out, bringing in Jack Leathersich. A single packed the sacks but a whiff and a bouncer into the shift by Bryce Harper prevented any damage. Tanner Roark took over in the sixth and the bats continued to boom - a walk came around on Stallings double and Jake rumbled home after another single and groundout. Edgar Santana climbed the hill and stranded an infield knock and walk. Austin Adams got the wave for the Nats in the seventh and zinged the Bucs. Dovydas Neverauskas answered the phone and tossed BP again, giving up a homer, single and double as Washington pared the score to 8-6.

In the eighth, Ollie Perez gave up four singles good for two runs, bopped a guy to load 'em and then walked in another tally. Matt Alber came on and gave up a Baltimore chop rap to J-Stalls (no one covered first, oops) before shutting the gate. Daniel Hudson came in for Pittsburgh and loaded the bases with an out, but got a timely DP to keep it 11-6. The Bucs went down 1-2-3 in the ninth and Dan Runzler tried to close it out, but Joey O dropped a fly ball and then J-Bell mishandled a roller and suddenly it was 11-8. George Kontos did put it away, getting a four-pitch whiff for his first save of the year and earning Angel Sanchez his first MLB win.

Jake was swingin' it too (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

The game took four hours and 22 minutes, the longest nine-inning outing in history for both clubs. The Pirates used 23 players, including nine pitchers. The Bucs stranded 10 runners, the Nats 15; each club issued seven free passes. Pretty it wasn't, but it beats the alternative. Nothin' like a "Raise It" to close the campaign.

Notes:
  • Jake Stallings had three hits & a walk while Max Moroff had a knock and two walks; together they drove in seven runs and scored three. Chris Bostick & J-Bell had two hits and a walk, and Starling had two more raps to end the year on a 12-game hitting streak.
  • Steven Brault had a pretty miserable closing day: two IP, four runs, six hits, four walks and four Ks after 68 pitches.
  • On his last Sunday show of the season, GM Neal Huntington wouldn't commit to Cutch's return, but did say he'd be in center if he's back. He added he hopes to have the same crew of big league coaches in the fold for 2018.
JJ's mulling his future (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)
  • During the post-game, John Jaso told the beat folk that he was leaning toward retirement; he's looking forward to traveling on his sailboat. JJ is planning on a trip to Puerto Rico to help with reconstruction as he has some building skills in his life toolkit.
  • The Bucs will pick 10th in the 2018 draft, finishing the year at 75-87.
  • Joe Block's wife Bethany delivered a child last night; that's why the AT&T announcers are Walkie and The Rock.

2 comments:

WilliamJPellas said...

Fairly interesting mishmash o' stuff given the poor season the Pirates just had.

Re: Jaso, I think retirement would be for the best. Although he really wasn't bad overall coming off the bench---he had some timely pinch-hits and his ability to work walks was nice to have around late in ballgames---he doesn't hit well enough to start anymore. And the only position at which his bat really played up was at catcher, and he can't catch anymore. All in all, he did alright for us. Not great, but alright. We paid too much for what we got, but he was alright.

Re: Brault, this was highly disappointing, plain and simple. He and Glasnow were terminators in Triple-A this season and both (but especially Glasnow) spit the bit in the big leagues. Of the two, Brault was better, but that's not saying much. Unfortunately there's not much else in the upper minors at the moment other than the oddly-not-promoted Nick Kingham, who was also very good at Indy but didn't get a sniff of the bigs.

Re: McCutchen, I would be surprised if he is not back for the last year of his contract. Ownership seems to have decided that the team's failure in 2017 was due to snake bites. Marte's suspension, Kang's legal woes, Taillon's cancer diagnosis (which definitely hurt his very-good-to-that-point development), and so on. If they follow the logic through, it would seem that they would keep McCutchen for 2018 and see if the team can rise if it is finally in one piece. I'm not sure it can, but I would understand if that's what they decided to do.

Stallings doesn't look overmatched at the plate, though he is probably a number two catcher in the majors. Nice to see him getting a few swings in Pittsburgh.

Moroff has some pop for a middle infielder and is intriguing for that reason. I don't know if he'll ever hit for a high enough average, though. But he is good insurance to have around in the event that Josh Harrison's injury woes linger.

Ron Ieraci said...

Jaso might work as a platoon guy somewhere Will, but not here as J-Bell is everyday now. As for Brault and Glasnow, I can't figure out w/their AAA success why they don't go after guys instead of putzing around;it's gotta be mental. I agree w/your assessment of Moroff and Stallings 100% - Max has to hit better and I think Jake is certainly the equal to Stew or Diaz; not a #1 but a 40-50 game guy.